Google’s IPO, 10 Years Later: Just 10 Stocks Beat It

Ten years ago, Google Inc. made its highly anticipated trading debut on the public markets. A decade later, it has a lot to celebrate.

The stock has risen 1,294% since it went public on Aug. 19, 2004, meaning a $10,000 investment in Google at its $85 IPO price would be worth $139,458.82 today.

Google’s 30.15% compounded annualized return over the past decade outpaces the 6.1% annualized gain of the S&P 500 over the same time frame, according to Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices. And the Internet search giant’s performance exceeds all but 10 other current members of the stock index.

Who has done better?

Keurig Green Mountain Inc. is the top performer over the past 10 years, rallying from $1.47 a decade ago to $115.09 as of Monday’s close, good for a 7,729% surge, Mr. Silverblatt said. Monster Beverage Corp. rings in second with a 6,569% rally and Priceline Group Inc. rounds out the top three, up 6,277%.

Of the top 10 stocks that have outperformed Google, only one — Apple — was in the S&P 500 10 years ago when Google went public. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals was in the S&P SmallCap 600 at that time. Google was added to the S&P 500 in March 2006.

Google, the world’s biggest search engine, has transformed its core business over the past decade, and the basic notion of search. The company is less a Web index and more an Internet destination, offering content and commerce within an ever-growing array of Google services.